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Meretz MK Mossi Raz has not been shy about expressing his dissatisfaction with President Isaac Herzog over the president’s choice to gentle a Hanukkah menorah on the Tomb of the Patriarchs in Hebron.
Final week, as Herzog visited the divided shrine within the divided West Financial institution metropolis, Raz and a handful of left-wing activists took up a place at a close-by intersection. The protesters held up indicators decrying Israeli “apartheid” and promised to “banish the darkness” as they raged in opposition to the choice of a former head of the dovish Labor occasion to plant his flag in a metropolis on the coronary heart of Israeli-Palestinian tensions.
A number of days earlier than the lighting, Raz and Herzog occurred to run into one another within the central metropolis of Modiin. Each had been visiting the mourning Kay household, which was sitting shiva following the terrorist homicide of Eliyahu David Kay in Jerusalem on November 21.
Exterior the Kay residence, the 2 shook arms warmly.
“I get why you might have determined to gentle the candle in Hebron,” Raz informed Herzog. “You’re the president for everybody. It’s your job. My job is to protest in opposition to you.”
This wasn’t a brand new state of affairs for Herzog. As a savvy political actor, he understood the left’s inevitable criticism of his go to to Hebron was a part of a well-recognized dance choreographed throughout the Israeli political stage. He was keen to soak up the brickbats in service of a bigger aim: protecting an unstable Israel on a good keel.
Six months into his presidency, the veteran politician — who has been a minister, an opposition chief as head of the Labor occasion, and a cupboard secretary underneath Ehud Barak — is exhibiting himself to be adept at navigating the present political map’s weird twists and hairpin turns, whereas performing as a beacon for these trying to interact with the Israeli political enviornment.
The present authorities led by Prime Minister Naftali Bennett is a Frankenstein’s monster of political pursuits and alliances from throughout the spectrum with a majority so slim that it may be blown up by a single recalcitrant Knesset member. Ought to it final one other yr and a half, one other chief, International Minister Yair Lapid, will step in and take Bennett’s place.
Amid all of the turbulence swirling round Israel’s management of late, Herzog is already exhibiting that he could be a stabilizing pressure throughout his seven year-term. He could look boyish (even at 61), however in actuality, he’s seen because the grownup within the room, each at residence and overseas.
International leaders have taken observe, talking with Herzog on issues that will usually be reserved for the prime minister or overseas minister, thus turning the presidency from a little-regarded figurehead into a big diplomatic pressure.
Bennett, who’s considered one of Israel’s youngest prime ministers at 49, has proven maturity and self-confidence in giving Herzog the area he must maneuver diplomatically. In contrast to former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Bennett doesn’t search to dim the president’s glow when he shines on the world stage.
Bennett and Lapid, who aren’t precisely political neophytes, nonetheless can’t match the affect and expertise Herzog brings to the desk on difficult affairs stretching outdoors Israel’s borders. The president has spent the final 22 years as a politician and public servant, most just lately as head of the Jewish Company, and has an extended historical past of forging private connections with vital figures all over the world, together with Jewish neighborhood leaders he has doggedly stored involved with.
At residence, he’s identified for having a heat relationships with Knesset members from each political occasion.
“Herzog understands that in his position, he wants the cooperation of everyone. As I see it, Bennett and Lapid work in sync [with Herzog] they usually do it nicely,” mentioned Efrat Duvdevani, who headed the President’s Residence in the course of the tenure of Shimon Peres and at present runs the Peres Heart for Peace. “Herzog has taken upon himself a number of topics and is entering into areas the place he can add vital worth. He’s doing it not simply domestically, but additionally on the diplomatic entrance.”
All of the president’s rolodex
In current months, three occasions have crystalized Herzog’s arrival as a big political and diplomatic participant.
The primary was his work to defuse main tensions round a deliberate girls’s prayer gathering on the Western Wall in early November. Whereas Netanyahu, now opposition chief, amplified calls by ultra-Orthodox political leaders for protesters to collect on the holy web site to heckle Girls of the Wall and different progressive teams, Herzog labored the telephones and obtained Gilad Kariv, a Reform rabbi and Labor MK, to cancel his plans to attend the service in help of the ladies’s teams.
Extremely-Orthodox MKs on the opposite facet of the problem adopted go well with, and a significant potential conflict was averted, with protests remaining low-key.
To get Kariv to cancel, Herzog promised him and leaders of the Reform and Conservative streams of Judaism that he would convene a discussion board underneath the auspices of the President’s Residence to give you an agreed-upon answer for the problem of a pluralistic prayer area on the Western Wall.
By taking over the problem, Herzog was inserting himself into probably the most vital debates to have riven Israel and Diaspora Jewry in recent times, which holds significance far outdoors the confines of home Israeli politics.
Weeks later, Herzog performed a significant position in negotiations with Turkey over an Israeli couple detained for allegedly spying, after considered one of them took an image of considered one of President Recep Tayyip Erdogan’s palaces.
Herzog had spoken to Erdogan by telephone in July, however given the fragile diplomatic state of affairs across the arrest, he feared going instantly again to the Turkish president may find yourself complicating issues. So as a substitute he finessed lower-ranking Turkish officers and satisfied them that the Oknins belonged again residence in Modiin. The Turkish officers conveyed to Herzog from upstairs that Erdogan anticipated calls from him and from Bennett as soon as the affair was wrapped up.
‘He didn’t make a giant to-do out of it. He simply did his job. It’s not one thing we’re used to’
An announcement from Bennett and Lapid saying the discharge of the 2 Israelis on November 17 credited Herzog for his efforts to spring them from jail. A day later each Bennett’s and Herzog’s workplaces introduced that that they had every spoken to Erdogan.
Regardless of his position within the return of the couple, Herzog stored a comparatively low profile, famous Avi Benayahu, a former IDF spokesman who presently works as a communications advisor to senior Israeli officers.
“He didn’t make a giant to-do out of it. He simply did his job, utilizing his good connections with the Turks. It’s not one thing we’re used to,” Benayahu mentioned, contrasting his fashion with Netanyahu’s.
The identical week, Herzog spoke on the telephone with Chinese language President Xi Jinping.
The dialog was comparatively prolonged, at 40 minutes, although a big chunk of that point was wanted for translating their remarks between Mandarin and English. The dialogue ended with every inviting the opposite to go to to mark 30 years of ties. A visit to Beijing can be the second for Herzog, who visited as welfare minister in 2009.
Herzog’s workplace famous in a press announcement that the decision was the primary ever between an Israeli president and his Chinese language counterpart.
Duvdevani, who famous that Peres was additionally used as a conduit to Beijing for earlier governments, mentioned the choice to talk to Herzog was an expression of appreciation for his stature and recognition that he’ll nonetheless be there even when governments come and go.
“They perceive Herzog’s vital standing and the truth that he shall be
within the place for seven years,” she mentioned.
However Benayahu surmised that Beijing was drawn to Herzog’s means to be a political participant and open doorways for them.
“They assessed Israel’s political state of affairs and located Herzog to be the
eldest and most steady issue,” he mentioned. “The Chinese language know that Herzog additionally has the facility to affect the Individuals, as he has had a deep acquaintance with President [Joe] Biden since he was a senator. It might be that Xi is on the lookout for
connections with AIPAC or maybe needs help with a few of the Chinese language
firms which can be working within the area. He thinks that speaking to the Israeli
president might be efficient.”
Tight lips make diplomatic friendships
In 2016, Arab leaders within the area welcomed experiences that Herzog was in talks with Netanyahu about making a unity authorities as a part of a brand new regional push for a Palestinian peace deal. Each Egyptian President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi and Jordan’s King Abdullah, who had been to play roles within the initiative, had been involved with Herzog, on the time chief of the opposition. However quickly after, Netanyahu started to backtrack and the initiative fell aside as he as a substitute reached out to hawkish Yisrael Beytenu to affix his authorities.
For Abdullah, whose ties with Netanyahu had been shortly souring, the transfer cemented the sensation that there was no person within the higher echelons of Israel’s authorities for him to talk to.
5 years later, Abdullah was among the many first regional leaders to name Herzog to congratulate him on turning into president, sighing with aid that he had been chosen. Since then, Herzog has traveled to Amman to satisfy Abdullah in particular person.
Sissi was additionally among the many first to name. The Egyptian president had been upset by Netanyahu’s reversal, however figured Herzog nonetheless had a future in politics and stored in contact over time.
Herzog’s means to keep up good contacts with Arab leaders is not less than partially credited to his means to be discreet.
“He has a basic attribute which everybody is aware of to understand and for which he has paid a worth. When he meets with [Palestinian Authority President] Mahmoud Abbas or King Abdullah he doesn’t leak,” mentioned Benayahu. “Along with his tradition of zero leaks, he’s managed to construct sturdy diplomatic relationships. Despite the fact that he got here from being welfare minister, and when he got here into the presidency they mentioned he can be a social-welfare president, Herzog has monitored the state of affairs now completely and is aware of that his diplomatic expertise is a helpful addition.”
Herzog’s position as diplomat is bolstered by two senior overseas coverage advisers in his shut circle. Shirley Heller, a senior overseas relations advisor, labored with Herzog in overseas coverage when he was within the Knesset and joined the Jewish Company’s overseas relations division when he was chairman of that physique.
Herzog additionally has the assistance of Zvi Aviner Vapni, a former envoy who has been posted to the President’s Residence as an adviser from the International Ministry. Vapni beforehand served as ambassador to the Philippines and Slovakia and was
diplomatic adviser to the Nationwide Safety Council.
His diplomatic exploits have continued as lobbying round Iran nuclear talks has reached a fever pitch, partnering with Bennett and Lapid in a three-pronged try and press Israel’s place.
In late November, Herzog flew to Britain the place he met with Prime Minister Boris Johnson. Two weeks earlier Johnson had met with Bennett in Glasgow, and some days after Herzog’s go to, Lapid got here calling to 10 Downing Avenue.
The truth that Johnson was keen to satisfy with three Israeli leaders, individually, in fast succession, to listen to the identical spiel, speaks volumes about shut ties between London and Jerusalem.
However it may additionally increase uncomfortable questions in regards to the standing of Israel’s new authorities, and whether or not Herzog is extra elder statesman or chaperone.
Presidential pardons
Domestically, Herzog has approached his position largely within the mildew of his predecessor Reuven Rivlin, who sought to take the sharp edges off tensions between varied communities of Israelis divided by class, ethnicity and beliefs.
Rivlin’s “4 tribes” speech, by which he urged Israelis to maneuver previous the majority-minority dynamic to an understanding of Israel’s array of competing viewpoints and communities, has continued to reverberate by means of Herzog’s time period.
Rivlin backed up his phrases with actions, for instance when he grew to become the primary president to attend the annual ceremony marking the 1956 Kfar Qasim bloodbath of Arab civilians by Israeli police.
His choice to sentence the bloodbath in particular person was of immense significance to Arab society in Israel, and Herzog correctly adopted in his footsteps, attending the ceremony and asking for forgiveness on behalf of the nation.
However Rivlin additionally grew to become entangled in political disputes when he tried to defend Israel’s legislation enforcement system and different state establishments from assaults by Netanyahu and his allies, drawing the fury of the previous prime minister and his premier.
Herzog, against this, has made a aware choice from day one to keep away from battle with any political gamers, together with Netanyahu, and has used his pulpit to attempt to decrease the temperature of political discourse by trying to attraction to everyone. That’s a luxurious Rivlin didn’t have.
“Throughout Rivlin’s presidency, Netanyahu had a transparent majority and the time period was marked by numerous arguments between him and Netanyahu, which solid a shadow over his makes an attempt to construct unity among the many folks,” Duvdevani mentioned. “Herzog, then again, is serving alongside a authorities the likes of which we’ve by no means seen earlier than. Herzog is coordinated with them and is the expression of the consensus place between the varied components that make up the federal government.”
Nonetheless, his appeals for a civility are one thing of a tall order, with the nation remaining largely divided politically within the wake of 4 rounds of elections.
Netanyahu supporters proceed to fume over Likud being ousted from energy and plenty of to the suitable of the political spectrum view Bennett, whose occasion has solely six seats and whose coalition depends on the help of lots of the proper’s conventional foes, as an illegitimate prime minister.
For all his political and diplomatic acumen, Herzog’s phrases have little impact on the aggrieved proper. However in his choice to gentle a Hanukkah candle in Hebron, the president discovered a means, even when it was for only a second, to present them a style of one thing aside from bitterness.
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